Basboosa

Ingredients
For the cake:

• 250ml sour cream
• 250ml natural yoghurt
• 180g melted butter
• 400g semolina
• 100g desiccated coconut
• 95g sugar
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• ¼ bicarbonate of soda
• 2 tbsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp tahini

For the syrup:

• 1 cup of water
• 2 cups of sugar
• 1 tbsp orange blossom water

Chopped pistachios and rose petals to decorate.

Step-by-step guide 

1. Sugar Syrup
In a saucepan, combine water, sugar and orange blossom water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool completely.

2. Preheat the oven to 175c/Gas Mark 4

3. Mix
Stir the sour cream, yoghurt and baking powder together thoroughly and leave for a few minutes to rise. In a separate bowl, mix the semolina, butter, coconut, sugar, bicarbonate of soda and vanilla extract together. When thoroughly combined, add the yoghurt mixture and mix thoroughly.

4. Spread & Pour
Spread the tahini onto the base of a cake tin, then pour in the semolina mixture (which will be more like a dough than a batter) and using your hands, press it into the tin evenly.

5. Make the shapes
Score the basboosa into squares or diamonds or something more elaborate. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes until the top is golden with a slight crisp to it. 

6. Once cooked
Remove from the oven and immediately pour the cool sugar syrup over the hot cake and let it soak in. Decorate with the pistachios and rose petals, and serve with strong coffee.